London Restaurant Reviews - Rodízio Preto

In my quest to find London's best rodízio restaurant, I met up with fellow Brazilian food blogger Rosana McPhee of Hot & Chilli and headed to the Victoria branch of Rodízio Preto.

For those not familiar with this style of Brazilian restaurant, there is more information in my earlier post on Rodízio Rico which you can read here. As explained, rodízio derives from the word "to rotate" and the term is most commonly applied to restaurants serving barbecued meats (also known as Churrascarias). In such restaurants, waiters go around the tables holding skewers with large pieces of barbecued meat which they will slice at your table. Green and red cards are given to each diner, and these are used to let the waiters know when you have had enough, or decide to have a break. A fixed price is paid per person, which entitles you to eat as much as you like of your favourite dishes. Prices and quality of ingredients and cooking vary tremendously from place to place in Brazil, but are generally of good standard and value since competition among this style of restaurants is fierce.

With two branches in Victoria (Wilton Street) and Putney (Putney High Street), and a third opening soon in the West End (Shaftesbury Avenue), Rodízio Preto is the second largest Brazilian rodízio restaurant in London after Rodízio Rico.

Unlike many other restaurants of this kind with their hideously fake Gaucho-style decor, their smallest branch in Victoria has a modern feel,  with brightly coloured walls, plain dark wood tables and a TV screen playing Brazilian music videos (I could have done without the latter).

The hot buffet was simple and had fewer choices than Rodizio Rico's. It was beautifully displayed containing some traditional Brazilian dishes like Salada de Chu Chu, Baiao de Dois (rice and beans, cassava flour and meats), Frango com Milho e Batata Palha (chicken and sweetcorn bake with matchstick chips) among others. 

We felt that most of the buffet dishes were good but some items, like the deep-fried polenta and the Pao de Queijo, would have been better freshly prepared and served at the table rather than being batch cooked and left on the warming tray.

A big advantage with RodízioPreto is that Feijoada, Brazil's national dish of black beans and pork stew served with rice and fried spring greens, is available at weekends along with the more usual hot buffet and barbecued meats. If you have not yet tried Feijoada, I really recommend it.

Rodízio Preto serves up to 15 different cuts of meat. Rosana and I felt that the quality of meats served at Preto was good and that they had the edge over Rodizio Rico's. There were some outstanding items including picanha (top sirloin) marinated in garlic and a very succulent and tender cut of pork fillet. All the meats were simply but well seasoned and were offered either rare, medium rare or well done.

Rodízio Preto offers a good selection of Brazilian and other international beers at around £4 including Itaipava, Bohemia, and Brahma. More impressive is their well priced wine list with a respectable range of wines from Brazil, Argentina, Spain and Italy including several bottles under £20. On our visit, Rosana and I shared a bottle of excellent 08 Chianti Classico priced at a very reasonable £18.70.

I was surprised to see the Brazilian Miolo Millesime sparkling wine (a blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir) offered at £25.20 while the same bottle is priced at £35 at Rodízio Rico. Again I felt that Preto offered better choices of wine and at more affordable prices than its main competitor.

Cost: £19.95 per person for unlimited hot buffet, salad bar and grilled meats (£3.55 less than Rodízio Rico @ £23.50), or £14.95 (hot buffet and salad bar), £4.95 for children under 12 years old, excluding drinks and desserts. I believe this to be great value, particularly for meat lovers and families with children.

Likes: good quality and range of Brazilian grilled meats, friendly service, Feijoada available at weekends, great value, well priced wine list.

Dislikes: some items from the buffet would be better freshly prepared and served hot from the kitchen directly at the tables including Pao de Queijo and deep fried polenta. I really dislike restaurants with television screens.

Verdict: Rodizio Preto is the best restaurant of its kind in London serving good quality barbecued meats and other traditional Brazilian dishes at very reasonable prices. Friendly service and lively atmosphere. This is the closest you will get to the real Brazilian rodizio experience in the UK. Highly recommended.

London Restaurant Reviews – Patara (Thai Fine-Dining in Soho)

Patara is an upmarket international group of nine restaurants scattered from Vienna to Beijing, a flagship unit in Bangkok and four branches in London. It has received much recognition in its home country as one of Thailand’s finest eating establishments, and in London, reviews have also been largely positive. So it was time Dr G and I headed to the group’s latest addition on Soho’s Greek Street to find out more.

The restaurant was designed by the architect responsible for Indian restaurant Benares – it looks elegant with plenty of dark teak wood, natural stone on the walls, soothing lighting, and beautiful wooden carvings including a model Thai temple as a centrepiece.

Near the entrance, there is a bar area with various tables where diners can enjoy cocktails or other drinks before moving on to the dining room. Cocktails are surprisingly well priced for Soho with most costing around £7. We ordered a couple of Martinis @ £7.10 each, a Lemongrass one for Dr G and an Espresso Martini for me. These were both well made, deliciously flavoured and refreshing.

The menu read well and with so many interesting options it was difficult to make our choices. I tend to grossly over-order while Dr G, much more sensible and about two stones lighter, is always trying to stop me. After much deliberation, we made up our minds – a selection of salad, curries, stir-fries, vegetables and rice.

We started with “Poached King Scallops in Spicy Lime and Chilli Vinaigrette with Lemongrass, Mint and Shallot” @ £8.50 and “Fried Honey Marinated Gressingham Duck Breast in Fresh Pandan Leaf” @ £8.25. These were both good but the scallops had the edge – beautifully presented, and with a delicious zing from the lime and chillies, they tasted fresh and were large and meaty.

The “Green Mango Salad with Crispy Thai Soft Shell Crab” @ £8.95 was also excellent; we particularly liked the addition of crispy soft shell crab to an otherwise simple salad.

The best main course in my opinion was one of their signature dishes “Slow Braised Beef in Aromatic Coconut Reduction with Fresh Lime, Lemongrass and Chilli” @ £14.25 – the beef was very tender and tasted sweet in the rich coconut reduction. The sweetness was well balanced by the refreshing acidity from the limes and lemongrass, a perfect combination of flavours.

The “Seafood Sautéed in Piquant Chilli Sauce with Lemongrass and Kaffir Lime” @ £16.25 was a generous platter of fat mussels, deliciously tender scallops, prawns and squid fried in a lightly spicy sauce, the flavours lifted by the addition of chillies and Thai basil.

I somehow managed to refrain from ordering Thai Green Curry on this occasion, opting instead for Patara’s “Grilled Aberdeen Angus Beef Sirloin in Basil Green Curry Sauce” @ £16.95, and was pleased that I did. The meat was sensationally tender and tasted like beef of the highest quality. The basil green curry was deliciously fragrant and less fiery than many others I have tried.

We also enjoyed the "Lamb Shank in Paneang Red Curry" @ £15.25 - I had never tried lamb in Thailand but thought that the combination of this type of meat with the rich, aromatic Paneang curry worked very well together. The meat was slow-cooked to perfection and was falling off the bone.

A Thai meal would not be complete without a plate of morning glory and some steamed rice - Patara's "Chinese Water Spinach with Chilli and Garlic" @ £6.50 was delicious as was the beautifully presented "Sticky Rice" (steamed glutinous rice) @ £2.50.

To accompany our meal, we had a bottle of 09 Albarino from Serra das Estrelas, Rias Baixas @ £28.60, that had good fruit concentration with hints of melon and crisp acidity. The wine list is not extensive but we felt that the choices on offer were good matches to the cuisine. I was also pleasantly surprised to see quite a few affordable options with bottles of white, rosé and red below £20.

For dessert, I had "Coconut Sweet Rice with Fragrant Sweet Thai Mango" @ £7.10 while Dr G opted for "Sticky Rice Pudding served with Seasonal fresh Berries, Vanilla Ice Cream and Palm Sugar Sauce" @ £7.10. We loved the presentation of the dishes and despite being rather full by then, we thoroughly enjoyed both desserts.

I was very impressed by the quality of the ingredients used at Patara, for the more delicate and sophisticated flavours of its dishes and for the well thought out and reasonably priced wine list. Patara is somewhat more expensive than many other Thai restaurants in London, but judging by my recent visit, I believe this is more than compensated by the superior quality of the ingredients and cooking skills.

Cost: A Thai meal (soup, curry, stir-fry, salad, rice, vegetable, and dessert) will cost around £40 per person (excluding drinks) based on two people sharing.

Likes: the star dish was the slow braised beef in coconut reduction (highly recommended), good attentive service, excellent quality ingredients particularly the seafood and fruit, the 09 Albarino was the perfect wine for the food we ate. Elegant décor.

Dislikes: None.

Verdict: Sophisticated Thai dishes at reasonable prices in Central London locations. Elegant décor. Good service, excellent quality ingredients and highly skilled chefs. I will return. Highly recommended.

The London Foodie Goes to Italy - Venice

A Long Weekend at La Serenissima

One hour and forty minutes from London Stansted, Venice has never been as affordable or accessible as it is now. As the number one tourist destination in Italy, however, it is also one of the hardest places to escape tourist tat unless you have sound advice - happily we had some.

Among the most stunning cities in the world, Venice merits pushing the boat out a little as regards accommodation and food. It is all too easy to spoil the experience with mediocrity (which will never be cheap in La Serenissima anyway).

The price of a good meal in virtually any other city in Italy will buy you a dreadful one in Venice, unless you know where you are going. The same applies to hotels, with demand far outstripping supply.

Made up of 118 islands, Venice is divided into 6 districts known as sestieri. We stayed in the Northernmost sestiere of Cannaregio which we found ideal being fairly quiet and residential but with lovely bars and restaurants. It is also within easy walking distance of the main sites such as Piazza San Marco.

Before we arrived in Venice in the 4th week of July, many of our friends warned us that Venice would be unbearably hot, smelly and crowded. In fact, we found no part of Venice was malodorous, and apart from the main thoroughfare from the railway station to Piazza San Marco (which was like Oxford Street on Christmas Eve), the rest of the city appeared surprisingly tranquil.

Where We Stayed

Palazzo Abadessa is a gorgeous 15th century mansion in the northern district of Cannaregio which has been sympathetically renovated into a four star luxury hotel. Tucked away only a few metres from the nearby busy shopping street of Nova Strada, the Palazzo has 15 rooms decorated with silk- lined walls, frescoed ceilings, original Venetian paintings, antique furniture and Murano chandeliers.

It has a lush garden where breakfast or pre-dinner cocktails are served. The Palazzo has two magnificent reception rooms. The first of these, on the ground floor is where guests are welcomed as they walk in from the garden. There are impressive Venetian stained glass windows, chandeliers and Persian rugs, and the room overlooks the canal from which water-taxis can be hailed.

The first floor reception room is even more striking. It leads on to several of the grandest bedrooms, and is furnished with Murano glass objects, huge oil paintings, and exquisite antique furniture. Domestic photographs of the owners Batista and Maria Luisa, to whom I chatted briefly, are dotted around, reminding us that this is a former family home, a Residenza d' Epoca, not just a hotel.

A sneaky peek at one of the nicest rooms as it was being cleaned

Our room overlooked the garden, and was quiet, large and attractively furnished. Discreetly modernised, the air-conditioning was concealed unobtrusively above a wardrobe. The double bed was antique, huge and very comfortable. After seeing so many  garishly decorated rooms online, we were pleased to have found Palazzo Abadessa, a tastefully luxurious spot in one of the most attractive Venetian sestiere.

Breakfast was served outdoors in the garden. The buffet included a variety of fruit, yoghurt, cheeses and cold meats, pastries, cakes and fruit juices. It was a generous spread and a lovely location in which to enjoy it.

Room rates range from €250 to €450 including breakfast. For more information about Palazzo Abadessa or to book, visit their website here. I thoroughly enjoyed my stay at this Residenza d'Epoca, and highly recommend it.

Hotel Palazzo Abadessa ****

Residenza d'epoca

30121 Venice

Cannaregio Calle Priuli 4011

Phone +39 041 2413784

Fax +39 041 5212236

www.abadessa.com

Where We Ate

Palazzo Abadessa does not have a restaurant, but luckily, only a 3-minute walk from the hotel, we booked a table at Vini da Gigio, a family run restaurant, that was highly recommended by various friends for their fantastic Venetian wine list and food.

The restaurant is extremely popular and booking in advance is essential. It overlooks one the City's many canals, and is simply decorated with a warm and welcoming atmosphere. Interestingly, Vini da Gigio has an open plan kitchen which is rather uncommon in Italy, but which provided me hours of entertainment as happily we were seated nearby.

The restaurant has two menus - one for fish and seafood and another for meat or vegetarian items. The menus are short and a couple of daily specials are also offered on each. Unsurprisingly, the wine list was extensive and rather pricey but still included some reasonable options at around €15 to €18.

For antipasti we ordered a small platter of Deep Fried Baby Razor Clams €16 which was delicious and crispy, and perfectly accompanied the bottle of Prosecco with which we started.

For primi, we had three different pasta dishes. These were beautifully al dente, simple and flavoursome. The Chestnut Tagliatele with Duck Sauce (Tagliatele di Castagne con Ragù d'Anatra) @ €13 was excellent with a wonderful richness from the slow cooked sauce.

The Tagliolini with Mixed Mushrooms (Tagliolini con Funghi Misti) @ €13 was also great with a generous mix of meaty wild mushrooms in a buttery sauce.

I hadn't tried Bigoli before, a thick spaghetti-like pasta with a hole running through the centre, traditionally made with duck eggs, and so I ordered Venetian Bigoli with Cheese and Pepper (Bigoli Veneti con Cacio e Pepe) @ €13. Cacio e Pepe (Romano Pecorino cheese and pepper) is one of my favourite pasta sauces and is also very easy to prepare, and Vini da Gigio's was no exception.

For main courses, Dr G went for Calves Liver Venetian Style with Polenta (Fegato alla Veneziana con Polenta) @ €18 - the liver had been cut in strips, fried with onions and served in a delicious sauce of its own juices and wine. It was tender and went well with the accompanying white polenta.

The Lamb Fillets with Seasonal Vegetables (Filetto di Agnello con Verdure di Stagione) @ €19 was also good - the fillet had been lightly bread crumbed and cooked to perfection.

The best main course in my opinion was the Braised Ossobuco of Veal (Ossobuco di Vitello Brasato) @ €19. It had been very slowly cooked in a rich tomato sauce and served with yellow polenta. The meat was unctuous and tasted divine.

To accompany our mains, we shared a bottle of 09 Valpolicella Ripasso from Torre D'Orti @ €18 which was a robust red with great structure and good complexity for its price level, and a perfect match to this type of food.

Of all the meals we had in Venice, Vini da Gigio was by far the best. I would very happily return and I thoroughly recommend Vini da Gigio (Cannaregio 3628A, Fondamenta San Felice, Vaporetto Ca' d'Oro, 041 528 5140/fax 041 522 8597). It is not a budget restaurant though, a 2 course meal will cost around €30 per person excluding drinks.

Another restaurant that we tried to get into was La Zucca but unfortunately it was booked up for all the evenings that we were there (Calle del Tintor, Sestiere Santa Croce, 1762, 30135 Venice, Italy, +39 (041)-524-1570, www.lazucca.it/).

What We Did

There is so much to do in Venice in terms of sightseeing and cultural activities. A visit to the stunning Palazzo Ducale and L'Accademia to see one of the finest European art collections, and the famous Piazza San Marco are some of the best known highlights.

The weekend we happened to be in Venice was during the Festa del Redentore which meant that most hotels and restaurants were fully booked with Italian tourists (for a change!).  A massive firework display ended the festivities on Saturday evening at Piazza San Marco which was great to witness.

Having visited many of the sites on previous visits, we decided to spend a very leisurely weekend walking, island hopping and eating. One fantastic new discovery this time round was Gelateria Grom. Now, we all know that artisan Italian ice creams (gelati artigianali) are some of the best in the world but the ice cream I had at Grom can only be described as the best I have ever had.

Grom only uses 100% natural ingredients from Italy (pistachios from Bronte in Sicily, nougat from Asti, fruit from their own farm called Mura Mura) - the ice cream flavours were intense but fresh with a wonderful creamy texture that blew my mind away. Grom is in major Italian cities and also in Malibu, Tokyo, Osaka, Paris and NY. And I just hope that a London branch will be opening very soon. I cannot recommend Grom highly enough and if you get to travel to Italy and enjoy ice cream, Grom is the place to head to. For a full list of branches, see here.

One of the most enjoyable things to do in Italy in my opinion is to have coffee and cake at some of the many Pasticcerie (patisseries/cake shops).  Like the cuisine, each region of Italy will also have their own cakes and snacks and there is no better way to discover this than visiting the local pasticceria. 

In Venice, I saw a small circular pastry (called pizzeta) with a rich tomato sauce, cheese and anchovies being served at nearly every cafe. The pizzeta was served warm and was delicious with either a strong cup of Italian coffee or an Aperol Spritz, a local cocktail of Aperol, Prosecco and a dash of soda water.

Another heavenly sweet was a cigar-shaped biscuit that was deliciously crisp and filled with creamy, sweetened ricotta and crystallised fruit. I cannot recall its name but if you ever get to see it in your next trip to Venice, I thoroughly recommend it.

I have been to Venice many times before but I feel that this latest visit was the most enjoyable to date. Highlights of this trip were Palazzo Abadessa Hotel, Vini da Gigio Restaurant, Gelateria Grom and the many glasses of Aperol Spritz I enjoyed while wandering the beautiful scenery and canals of Venice. I hope to have a repeat visit before too long!

The London Foodie was a guest of Palazzo Abadessa